Its November and I’m gearing up for my holiday turkey. I love a brined turkey and cooking with beer, so I combined these elements to create a juicy beer-brined turkey with a Dankful IPA gravy. Dankful IPA has piney hop aromas, so I paired that with juniper berries in the brine to accentuate those flavors.
Using a combination of butter and oil in this one-bowl cake adds wonderful flavor and makes the texture extra moist, and it has become a favorite of ours as a sweet end to dinner on Rosh Hashanah. Be sure to use firm apples that will hold their shape while baking, such as Gala, Cortland, or Braeburn.
The sweetness of the miso balances the complexity of Hazy Little Thing IPA’ s bitter notes. The apples compliment the beer’s fruit forward flavor, while the caramelization of the pork enhance its malt characters.
Kneading by hand: A heavily enriched dough, like this one, will naturally be on the stickier side. Using an electric stand mixer for kneading will be a lot easier, but it is not impossible to knead this dough by hand. All you need is an extra 1/4cup of bread flour on standby.
Gai mei bao is my favorite baked bun. There, I said it. I love a good pineapple bun as much as the next person, but I’m in the minority that enjoys a buttery, coconut-heavy cocktail bun a little more. Cocktail buns originally were created as a way for bakers to salvage day-old buns. The stale buns were ground into crumbs, then mixed with sugar and shredded coconut as a filling for fresh dough (like a“cocktail” of bakery leftovers). Nowadays, bakers make the filling fresh.
Frangipane is something I have always enjoyed: the intense almond flavour and very delicate texture is simply delicious. In this recipe I have added another texture, encasing the frangipane with crispy filo pastry, while a nutty base gives it a lovely crunch.
This dish is packed with bold flavors of garlic, spice, and vinegar and balanced out by the rich, creamy grits. The hint of rosemary pairs nicely with the piney hop aromas of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. This dish is so bold it needs a smooth beer like Pale Ale to cleanse your palate between bites.
Chelo means “plain steamed rice” in Farsi, whereas polos are rice dishes with other ingredients folded in, like pilafs—I included a few variations of these.
If there’s one piece of equipment you’ll see in every Persian household, it’s a nonstick pot. Although I almost never use nonstick cookware, for this recipe, it’s essential. It makes life easy when you want to serve the rice on a platter, or flip and invert it for easy release. Trust me and pay the money to invest in that peace of mind.
A fruit galette is the workhorse of the sweet kitchen. Freeing yourself from the confines of a pie plate is so liberating. Somehow, no matter how a galette slumps, breaks, or browns, it’s always beautiful. Glory lies in irregularity. Unlike a deep fruit pie, which tends to harbor too much liquid, galettes always leak a little bit. Rest easy. That’s a good thing! It seems to me that exactly the right amount of liquid creeps out so that what’s left inside is a nicely thickened fruit filling with sweet, concentrated flavor, and a crisp bottom crust. The secret is to remove it from the parchment paper while it’s still warm and the leaked juices haven’t solidified. A bonus is that galettes cool much faster than pies. You are closer to dessert bliss than you think.
Panna cotta is a wonderfully light dessert to enjoy in the heat of summer. When you pair the smooth creamy créme fraîche pannacotta with Wild Little Thing Sour Ale strawberries, black peppercorn crumble and a hint of lemon zest it creates a delightfully complex flavor profile that’s not too sweet and slightly sour.